Sunday, June 26, 2005

Howl's Moving Castle (2005)

I just watched the whole thing twice! First I watched the Japanese version with subtitles and then followed it by suffering the Disney version (with Christian Bale and Jean Simmons dubbing!).

I have to say I was disappointed more by the latter than the original language version but... I was still disappointed.

This was just not as involving or as much fun as "Spirited Away". The story was a lot weaker even though it did hold my attention for about three-quarters of the film before I started to get a bit bored.

The problem is that this is too kiddie-fied. I tend to avoid "family" movies anyway because they are just so inspidid but this one really was a girlie sickener. All love story and hardly any action... this isn't the kind of cartoon we want at all!

The story, for those who don't know, is hardly a complicated one. There's a wizard called Howl (or at least a name that sounds like that in Japanese!) and he lives in a mechanical castle on legs. It reminded me a lot of the Russian Baba-Yaga story. The castle even has the same chicken legs if you look closely.

Then there's a girl called Sophie who works in a hat shop, meets Howl in the street while he is being chased by shadowy creatures, and gets cursed for no particular reason by "The Witch of the Waste". She is turned into an old woman and ends up going to Howl presumably to seek a cure. It is more luck than judgement how she ends up in his castle though.

Anyway, once inside the castle, Sophie becomes Howl's cleaning lady, gets up to all sorts of stuff, befriends a little boy and a talking fire (who used to be an evil spirit and powers the castle now!), and from time to time changes backwards and forwards between an old woman and her original self.

Sophie, of course, falls in love with Howl and has to rescue him finally after a huge battle (which was a bit disappointing really). They get free of their respective curses, set a few other cursed people free of their curses along the way, and finally end up together living happily ever after in the castle.

Not much to it at all really. The animation is a lot more refined, and is often far more "cutesy", than in "Spirited Away" but you just don't feel involved enough in the story to care.

You might like it, but, as I still prefer "Spirited Away", I can't really recommend it to you. You can watch the entire thing for free on YouTube anyway, so it's only time that you will waste.

The Bloody Horror Store

My Favourite Horror Films

Top Ten Extreme Horror Films

Top Ten Ghostie Films

Top Ten Slasher Films

Top Ten Vampire Films

Top Ten Werewolf Films

Top Ten Zombie Films

About Me

I'm a grumpy Brit who loves watching horror films late at night with two cats for company. I write honest, mostly objective movie reviews, retrospectives and recommendations punctuated by anything else that takes my fancy. My ongoing mission is to seek out only the best horror films ever made. I do not and will never support or encourage no-budget, backyard epics, horror-comedies, or intentionally badly made horror films. Screeners or movie passes will not guarantee a good review.

"I was browsing your site and think you're probably one of the most knowledgeable horror movie enthusiasts known to man." - Pete, owner of Hauntspace.com (2011)

"I read all your posts and try and share them where I can. At least you're truthful rather than liking everything to kiss ass! One of the only blogs I trust!" - Michael, owner of Left Field Films (2012)

"He's cool as shit; he likes the same things I do; he's awesome to talk to; I enjoy our conversations; and he has a sexy fucking accent." - Rebekah Herzberg, Your Friendly Neighborhood Jewish Girl (2014)

Put my badge on your sidebar

Disclaimer

Rights to any movie logos, photographs, screencaps, posters and/or videos used on this site belong to my affiliates and the respective motion picture studios. No infringement of these rights is inferred or suggested.